My favorite people...
I am a list maker. I have running lists in my head about several things, and the “People I most admire” list is one of them. It’s not always the same, and often I will see a movie or read a book and become obsessed with one person or another. It is always very eclectic, and I can’t always verbalize the list, or why certain people are on that list.
Everyone should have a list like this, made up of writers, actors, politicians, clergy, parents, sports figures, relatively unknown people in your home town, even fictional characters.
My Grandmother, of course, is number 1. I will have to tell you some of her stories some time.
My son, who, at 8 has already taught me more about the world than anyone. Even with his disabilities, and the kids occasionally making fun of him, he loves people, and is the most empathic person I know. He is happy ALL the time. No matter what. Look up the phrase “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” in the dictionary, and there is a picture of Isaiah, smiling out from behind a lemonade stand.
Sir is very far up there. I have never met such an intelligent, tough, open minded man with such a soft heart (that he hides from all but a lucky few!) with such a sense of honor….
My high school Home Economics teacher, Mrs. Kendall, is on that list. She was an amazing woman, perfectly poised, yet down to earth. Wife of a farmer, mother, and the ultimate teacher, she taught me everything I know about sewing, cooking, organizing, and budgeting that wasn’t already taught to me by my grandmother.
There are a few actresses that I admire. Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Meryl Streep, Audrey Hepburn. Actors, from Sidney Poitier to Robert Duvall.
People from the political world like Eleanor Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan. (That list is sadly short!)
Musicians, like Melissa Etheridge, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Grace Slick, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson.
The longest part of the list is, by far, the writers. There are so many writers, whether for their skill in writing, like Toni Morrison, (Read the opening lines from her book “Jazz”: “Sth. I know that woman, She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an 18-year-old with one of those deep down, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going. When the woman, her name is Violet, went to the funeral to see the girl and to cut her dead face they threw her to the floor and out of the church. She ran, then, through all that snow, and when she got back to her apartment she took the birds from their cages and set them out the windows to freeze or fly, including the parrot that said ’I love you’.” - Is that just an amazingly creative opening? I was just floored at how that flowed, and how it made me want to read more - if only to see what the heck she was talking about - maybe it‘s just the wanna-be-writer in me, I don‘t know…lol) or their skill in detailed storytelling, like Stephen King (talk about details!) or Anne Rice.
Even writers with prolific careers talented in just taking me away for awhile, without ever getting bogged down in deep intellectual thinking, like Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts.
The writers of classics awe me in their ability to think something so important, detail a historical event so movingly, or create such an important story, that their words become classics, like Harper Lee, or Anne Frank. Or the poets, like Maya Angelou, and Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Even the poetry (and songs) of Jim Morrison.
Poets have a huge part of my heart, since I wrote poetry for so long…
I really need to write again….
Who are the people you most admire?
Everyone should have a list like this, made up of writers, actors, politicians, clergy, parents, sports figures, relatively unknown people in your home town, even fictional characters.
My Grandmother, of course, is number 1. I will have to tell you some of her stories some time.
My son, who, at 8 has already taught me more about the world than anyone. Even with his disabilities, and the kids occasionally making fun of him, he loves people, and is the most empathic person I know. He is happy ALL the time. No matter what. Look up the phrase “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” in the dictionary, and there is a picture of Isaiah, smiling out from behind a lemonade stand.
Sir is very far up there. I have never met such an intelligent, tough, open minded man with such a soft heart (that he hides from all but a lucky few!) with such a sense of honor….
My high school Home Economics teacher, Mrs. Kendall, is on that list. She was an amazing woman, perfectly poised, yet down to earth. Wife of a farmer, mother, and the ultimate teacher, she taught me everything I know about sewing, cooking, organizing, and budgeting that wasn’t already taught to me by my grandmother.
There are a few actresses that I admire. Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Meryl Streep, Audrey Hepburn. Actors, from Sidney Poitier to Robert Duvall.
People from the political world like Eleanor Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan. (That list is sadly short!)
Musicians, like Melissa Etheridge, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Grace Slick, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson.
The longest part of the list is, by far, the writers. There are so many writers, whether for their skill in writing, like Toni Morrison, (Read the opening lines from her book “Jazz”: “Sth. I know that woman, She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an 18-year-old with one of those deep down, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going. When the woman, her name is Violet, went to the funeral to see the girl and to cut her dead face they threw her to the floor and out of the church. She ran, then, through all that snow, and when she got back to her apartment she took the birds from their cages and set them out the windows to freeze or fly, including the parrot that said ’I love you’.” - Is that just an amazingly creative opening? I was just floored at how that flowed, and how it made me want to read more - if only to see what the heck she was talking about - maybe it‘s just the wanna-be-writer in me, I don‘t know…lol) or their skill in detailed storytelling, like Stephen King (talk about details!) or Anne Rice.
Even writers with prolific careers talented in just taking me away for awhile, without ever getting bogged down in deep intellectual thinking, like Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts.
The writers of classics awe me in their ability to think something so important, detail a historical event so movingly, or create such an important story, that their words become classics, like Harper Lee, or Anne Frank. Or the poets, like Maya Angelou, and Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Even the poetry (and songs) of Jim Morrison.
Poets have a huge part of my heart, since I wrote poetry for so long…
I really need to write again….
Who are the people you most admire?
posted by Amethyst Rising at 4:31 AM
2 Comments:
Very nice post! And I like Toni's excerpt. I have not really thought about a list this extensively, but I really do admire the characters that John Wayne played, not John Wayne himself.
Does that count?
I am really strange, I know, in that I love lists... I also have an "All Time Favorite Albums" list, and an "All Time Favorite Songs" list, and even a "Places I want to see" list...lol
I also love to-do lists, for keeping myself organized...
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